UN Migration Agency Issues Covid-19 Warning for Burkina Faso

The International Organization for Migration is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among asylum seekers and internally displaced people in Burkina Faso, which has become a hot spot for the disease in West Africa.

“We are concerned that increased displacement creates a fertile ground for more tensions among the population and leads to a spill-over of the conflict in new areas,” Abibatou Wane, IOM Burkina Faso chief of mission, said in a statement. “Furthermore, poor hygiene conditions in displacement sites severely increase the risk that Covid-19 may spread within displaced communities.”

As of March 26, Burkina Faso had confirmed 146 Covid-19 cases and three deaths. There are no confirmed cases yet at sites hosting displaced people, IOM said.

There are more than 780,000 internally displaced people in Burkina Faso. More are on the move following attacks in northern villages earlier this month, the IOM said.